Foreign participants of the 2014 Wenzhou Outdoor Challenge abseiling off the bridge of Baihe Resort in Taishun County. (Photo : www.sleepmonsters.com)
The market for outdoor activities continues to flourish in the country, who, by the way, won the bid in July to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
Shanghai-based marketing company APAX Group said that there is a $10-billion market right now for the outdoor activities in the country, reported China Daily.
It was some $3 billion in 2014 based from data provided by China Outdoor Commerce Alliance (COCA).
The country is expectant that the sports sector will balloon to an astounding 5-trillion-yuan industry, as stated in “Opinions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of the Sports Industry and Promoting Sports Consumption” that appeared in the State Council Gazette Issue No. 30 released on Oct. 30, 2014.
Millions of Chinese are into sports and its related apparel, according to the Global Times. In 2013, nearly 60 million engaged in outdoor sports, and sales of sports attire were made booming by some 150 million buyers.
CNN Travel reported in 2012 that the country was “growing as a thrill seeker's destination.” It recommended the following outdoor activities: diving in Zhejiang, hiking in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), kiteboarding in Fujian, mountain biking in Yunnan, skiing in Hebei and surfing in Hainan.
Speaking of Zhejiang, the province will be the site of a new resort.
To open in the fourth quarter of the year, the Discovery Adventures Andaman Moganshan Park (to be also referred to as Discovery Adventures Park) and the Discovery Destinations Hotel, will be located in Andaman Moganshan Resort in Huzhou in Deqing County, reported PR Newswire.
American mass media company Discovery Communications joined Chinese business partners APAX Group and Regalia Hotel Group, the company behind Regalia Resort & Spa and Regalia Serviced Residences, for the resort project.
The report said that the resort will be an “adventure destination integrating extreme sports, tourism and vacation.” It will offer hiking and mountain biking services and will feature a zip line and a climbing wall that will be “China's biggest.”
For those who are taking interest with outdoor adventures and extreme sports, they should be aware of the physical demands of these activities and the risks that come with them.
According to Beijing-based Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA), the country’s national mountaineering organization founded in April 1958, 63 died in 2014 in connection to outdoor sports, reported China Daily.
CMA said that injuries sustained from outdoor-related activities and sports were attributed to “inadequate preparation and protection.”
When it comes to sports in general, safe and fun go hand in hand, for no kind of fun is ever worth a person’s life.
